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The court puts the AFE strike on hold

On May 14, 2015, the Spanish court (Audiencia Nacional) issued its resolution on the injunction (Auto de medida cautelar) requested by LNFP against AFE on the strike promoted by the latter. The court granted the injunction and suspended the strike.

LNFP claimed through a collective conflict procedure that the AFE strike is illegal, on the grounds that AFE’s intention with the strike was to alter the terms of a collective bargaining agreement currently in force. Because the legal procedure would take place after the dates of the strike, the LNFP requested the court to grant an injunction suspending the strike.

The court granted this measure after debating whether an injunction would be admissible at all in this case as it would restrict the fundamental right to strike. The court determined that LNFP’s right to due process could only be respected if it had the possibility to argue for an injunction, because the legal process on the requested illegality of the strike would only take place after the start of the strike.

In addition, the court stated that the injunction could be granted if LNFP argued and evidenced clear and strong indicia of their case. Having analyzed them during a hearing on May 13, 2015, the court deemed that the required strong indicia existed, and that not granting the injunction could entail serious consequences:

“(…) it has been evidenced that executing the strike would impede the end of the First and Second Division B championships on the relevant dates, which would entail a serious organizing disorder very difficult to solve due to the international commitments of Spain and of the clubs, as well as due to the football players’ holidays; not to forget that AFE announced that it reserved its right to extend the number of initial strike dates; this allows us [the court] to conclude that, if this injunction was not granted, it could create situations, that would impede, or seriously difficult due process in case of a judicial decision in favor of the claimant (…)[1]

The AFE can appeal this decision (Auto) before the Spanish Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) within 5 days. The final judicial decision on the LNFP claim will not be bound by this injunction decision. The LNFP has been ordered to deposit a 5 million euro caution to face eventual consequences in case the final judicial decision deemed that the strike was not illegal.

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